• Straight to Video
• Director: Heywood Gould
• Written by: Heywood Gould
• Running Time: 104 minutes
• Language: English
• MPAA Rating: R - Restricted
• Cast: William Baldwin, Jon Seda, Adam Baldwin, Elizabeth Mitchell, Sofia Milos, Byron Minns, Leonard Termo, Billy Mayo, Una Damon, Richard Portnow, John Capodice, Christian Camargo, Suzanne Carney, Michael Ray Clark, Erich Martin Hicks, Loren Lazerine, Christina Liao, Pee Wee Piemonte, Dominic Oliver, John Nielsen, Elyse Mirto, Thomas Rosales Jr., Joe Sabatino, Jeff Silverman, Kevin Sizemore, Bonnie Snyder, Max Zekowski, Jim Vickers

An interesting move by Heywood Gould teaming up the Baldwin boys, Adam and William, one that brought me into the film head half cocked, thinking, “Hey, they aren’t technically related, but it’s pretty neat that they are together in a movie.”

Okay, contrary to popular belief, Adam Baldwin is not a Baldwin brother! Heck, he’s not even a distant cousin, however, it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to conclude that he’s probably dealt with the, “Are you Alec’s brother?” question more than once during his lengthy career in the movies. I’m also convinced that he has, at least once, used the Hollywood-rich heritage of the family's name to get at least one part in a movie. “Alec, my brother? Yeah, for sure Alec’s my brother,” I can practically here Adam spouting off to some casting agent in an effort to grease a part in some movie he wants to be in. So, the way I see it, it is by the sheer random luck of having the Baldwin name and the ties that bind, he’s become an unofficial, unsanctioned Baldwin brother… at least to the typical pedestrian observer. That's something Gould was counting on, I'm sure. Getting him on the ticket was a no-brainer. The other Baldwin, however, the bona fide Baldwin of the Hollywood Baldwin’s, well, that’s another animal altogether. See, Heywood Gould might have had a lot of pull in Hollywood back in 1988 when he wrote the semi-successful Tom Cruise vehicle “Cocktail”, but it’s not a stretch to believe that recognition had long since faded away as he saddled up for his latest bad cop crimecapade, “Double Bang” in 2001. Needless to say, securing Alec Baldwin, hot off of his success with “Glengarry Glen Ross”, was out, but alas, when all else fails there are always brothers William, Stephen and Daniel that are generally willing to step in to lend that Baldwin smell to whatever proceedings warrant its inclusion. I’m sensing that by Gould’s twisted logic, assembling two half Baldwin’s, his film might just live up to the worthiness of one big Alec Baldwin. It doesn’t. Really.

William Baldwin plays Billy Brennan and he’s a good cop, kind of. Adam Baldwin plays Vinnie Krailes, Billy’s partner, and he’s a bad cop, most certainly. They are the kind of gritty cops we read about in crime novels – seemingly cut from the old wool; busting down doors and busting open heads to get the information they want. In their grime-encrusted world, torturing small time crooks for a confession is just par for the course. When the film opens, Billy and Vinnie meet up after some time apart, in a blood-spattered hotel room, as a wired-up Billy urges his estranged partner Vinnie, who has been shot in the abdomen, to tell him who had him popped. Vinnie, in his own blood, spells out “Fish” on the bedspread. The name rings a bell for Billy, as it should. See, Billy was there the night that Sally 'Fish' Pescatore (Jon Seda), an up and coming local mobster, offered them both a fifty-thousand dollar incentive to look the other way.

Plenty of over-long flashbacks round out the back-story of Vinnie’s descent into the dark side, but, due to time constraints, I’ll just sum it up: Vinnie took the bait and Billy didn’t. Over time they both went their separate ways, but for some reason, on this night, Vinnie asks for his old partner to come and walk him out of this world. As Vinnie lay dying, Billy makes his old friend a promise and it’s one that he is intent on keeping even if it costs him his career. Complicating matters is a psychotherapist, Dr. Karen Winterman (Elizabeth Mitchell), who enters Billy’s life with a target painted on her back. It seems she had a contract taken out on her after she unwittingly crossed paths with Sal and his psychotic girlfriend, Kim (Una Damon), in a hallway, mere seconds after they personally executed Kim’s date - a former patient of hers that doubled as a police informant and junkie gigolo. Against his better judgement, Billy develops feelings for the good doc, but it’s not so much that it’ll get in the way of his goal of bringing down Sal. Nope, that’s an objective that won’t be tossed by the wayside. His soul, well that’s another matter.

As Billy turns up the dial on Sal, it’s his Uncle, Frankie Carbonaro (1994’s “Ace Ventura: Pet Detective”), a top tier mafia don, that feels the heat. A bunch of dead cops and barrage of talkative informants forces Frankie to offer an increasingly doped up Sal a take it or leave it incentive: stop using and take care of his little mess... or die. Becoming clear is Billy's masterful manipulation of Frankie, thus setting Sal up from both sides, a classic "double bang" as they say. Sadly, Sal has his own problems that are mucking up his plans, namely that his regular go-to hitman, McKracken (Billy Mayo), has suddenly developed a conscience, and can’t bring himself to kill a woman even when Sal continues to increase the financial stakes. The son of a famous Blue’s Man, McKracken has suddenly come to question the path his life has taken and it factors heavily into his final act, one that involves self-sacrifice and redemption. For Billy, his change is just as drastic, but much different. As the film progresses, Billy’s increasing pessimism is charted through long monologues, and it is that cynicism that lands him on the doorstep of Vinnie’s widow, Camela (Sofia Milos of "CSI: Miami" fame), carrying a briefcase filled with her ex-husband’s blood money. “There’s billions made in drugs,” Billy tells Carmela, suggesting that this little bit - Vinnie’s “pension”, as he calls it, won’t really matter against the larger backdrop of her children’s future financial security. By accepting this money from Frankie, Billy is confirming his own sense of moral clarity, in that it is sometimes perfectly acceptable to embrace the very things he is sworn to oppose. At this point, the line between good and bad is near non-existent. The shame he once felt towards his partner has evolved into something burgeoning on understanding, if not outright respect. His pessimism completely unravels in a final fuming monologue to Karen. “There is no truth, or justice,” he tells her, adding, “The good ones die and the guilty ones go free.”

This exploration of what drives good cops to go bad (or kind of bad) is something that Heywood Gould is familiar with, having delved into in 1981 with “Fort Apache the Bronx” and then again, ten years later with “One Good Cop”. It’s interesting that he still hasn’t gotten it down to an art form, but it’s maybe because he takes on too much here this time around. This film is a perfect example of that, as it seems to shift gears about midway into the film, losing sight of Billy and instead focusing on Seda’s character and his eventual fall from grace. Even though Sally supplicates a return to the old way of doing business, namely going back to the Bugsy Siegel days, it’s his refusal to defer to his elders that ultimately proves his downfall. Sadly, in charting this, we lose sight of Billy. Further muddying the waters is the assassin character and his sudden onset of a conscience. Ug. After awhile, you want to throw your hands in the air and just surrender, the complexity of the plot, and the study of the characters, some needlessly, all works to unstitch what could have been a pretty tight crime suspenser.

Across the board the performances are good, with Jon Seda standing way out in a role he’s become quite proficient at playing of late simply because he’s asked to play it so often. However, taking on the obvious choice, Seda, instead of another actor for the role of enterprising gangster seems to speak to the film's underlying racist tone that is there regardless if you want to recognize it. Here's a hint; watch the way various ethnic groups are portrayed here, even down to the undercover cops in the subway. It's an eye-opening glimpse into the racist culture that exists in Hollywood.

The dialogue is interesting and, at times, seems to mimic the kind of swanky “pulp” writing more befitting of Raymond Chandler novel. Sometimes it works, and sometimes it doesn’t. In the end, it’s memorable, something that can't be said for a lot of movies I've watched recently.

Side-note: While adding links, I suddenly had a different take on the film in that maybe the disillusionment felt by Baldwin’s character was nourished by the director’s own sudden disenchantment with Hollywood, as looking over the imdb.com I discovered that Heywood Gould would never make another film.